Various forms of tubs heretofore have been designed including door openings in selected side walls thereof and doors for those openings whereby the latter may be selectively opened and closed. Most tubs equipped with side doors are deeper than the usual tubs and the door openings thereof enable physically disabled persons to easily gain access to and to egress from a tub.
However, some door equipped tubs use vertically slidable doors which may be fully removed from a closed position only by upward displacement of the door and other tub doors swing outward. Doors which must be lifted upwardly toward an open position are difficult to operate by physically disabled persons and doors which open outwardly inherently present door sealing problems. Of course, it is old to provide a door which opens inwardly in other environments, and such an inwardly opening door may be provided on a bathtub and utilize the head pressure of water within the tub urging the door toward a closed position to facilitate the formation of a tight seal between the door and the associated opening. However, an inwardly opening door can constitute an obstacle against easy egress from a tub by a physically disabled person.
Examples of various of forms of tubs equipped with doors are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,569,825, 3,371,354, 3,380,078, 3,663,971, 3,863,275, 4,099,272 and 4,118,810.